


Revenge

by CiaraFox



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Arcades, Before the Memory Wipe, Card Games, Confessions, Conspiracy, Cuddling, Discoveries, Dom/sub Undertones, Drinking, Enemies to Fuckbuddies to Friends to Lovers, Fights, Fluff, Guns, Happy Ending, Hate Sex, Heartache, Hurt, Illness, Inappropriate Erections, Internal Conflict, Kissing, M/M, Mercenaries, Oral Sex, Poor Life Choices, Prequel, Prostitutes, Revenge Mission, Rough Sex, Secret Identity, Secrets, Semi-Public Sex, Sharing a Bed, Smut, Space Stations, Training, Unwarranted Attraction, Voyeurism, bowling, developing feelings, handjobs, injuries, slight dub con, slow emotional burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:40:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29010672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CiaraFox/pseuds/CiaraFox
Summary: When Derrick Moss joined the crew of the Raza, it was for one simple reason: to kill Marcus Boone, the man who murdered his wife.Two months later, and Marcus is still alive. Turns out real life is a little more complicated than Derrick might have hoped. Especially when you start to have really messed up feelings for the man you’re meant to hate.
Relationships: Derrick Moss & Das | Emily Kolburn, Derrick Moss & Original Male Character, Derrick Moss/Marcus Boone, Marcus Boone & Das | Emily Kolburn, One | Derrick Moss/Three | Marcus Boone
Comments: 18
Kudos: 8





	1. A Hitch in the Plan

**Author's Note:**

> It’s here!! It’s finally here!!! My first ever full-length fanfic! 😁😁😁  
> I finally got myself to finish the last couple of bits that were missing, so now at long last I think it’s time to go for it and post the first chapter! And I’m really excited yet slightly terrified ^^;  
> When I started thinking about One and Three’s backstory, I realised how cool a story it would make on its own – heartbroken, rage-fuelled businessman steals the identity of a criminal to get revenge on his wife’s killer… only something stops him going through with it. In my idea, of course, this ‘something’ is uncontrollably getting the hots for his target ^_^
> 
> I started this story in September 2019, just after I finally got back into writing after years of basically nothing. I spent a good portion of my last year of university writing it, usually instead of working, and I don’t regret a thing :) It is only the second full-length story I have ever completed and I’m so proud of it ❤  
> Minus the last bits of editing, this is a finished work (word count 115k!) For now, I’m aiming to post once a week on Tuesdays, to make sure I have time for the editing, but I’ll hopefully be moving up to Tuesdays and Saturdays in the end.
> 
> So without further ado, here’s Chapter 1 of Revenge!

Derrick Moss didn’t know what was wrong with him. He had come on this ship for one reason, and one reason alone: to kill the man who murdered his wife. And yet, here he still was, two months later. Still on the Raza. Still looking like a highly wanted criminal. And Marcus Boone was still alive.

He couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t done it yet. It wasn’t like he hadn’t had any opportunities. And it wasn’t like Marcus had turned out to actually be nice or anything. He was a selfish, brutish dick.

But something kept stopping him.

Like now, for instance. Now would be a perfect time to do it. He and Marcus were alone, stuck on the ship they were trying to steal from, and Marcus was hurt.

And yet.

Marcus was slumped on him, his hand on his bleeding leg, and Derrick was struggling to hold him up as they made their way down a corridor. Safe to say this heist hadn’t gone quite to plan. It was meant to be a quick and easy, ‘get in, grab the loot, get out’ sort of deal. Portia and Ryo had gone one way in the search, and he and Marcus had gone the other. But the ship wasn’t quite as deserted as it was supposed to be. Surprised by a few men camped out in the bridge, Marcus had taken a glancing shot to the inner left thigh before either of them could get their guns up. Derrick had fired off a few rounds in their direction, and hit one of them, he thought, but they couldn’t stay to find out. Marcus was bleeding and they had to get out of there.

When he had contacted Portia over the comm to tell her what had happened, she had told them to take care of the men, while she and Ryo worked on extracting the target. But Derrick knew Marcus was in no shape for that. He had to stop the bleeding at least.

And that was why his thoughts had turned, once again, to his reason for being here. And to wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Why was he trying to _save_ Marcus Boone? He should just leave him here to bleed out, probably add in another shot or two to be sure, and tell the others he had just died from the fight. Then the next time they docked at a space station, he could just leave, hitch a ride with some random freighter back home, get his face changed back…

But no. For whatever reason, he couldn’t.

He was weak.

Marcus groaned. His eyes were barely open and his forehead was beading with sweat. Derrick didn’t think they could get much further, so he’d just have to hope they’d put enough distance between them and their attackers for now.

He stopped, grabbing hold of Marcus when he nearly slipped off him, and lowered him to the ground. At a loss for what to use to stop the bleeding, Derrick slipped Marcus’ arms out of his sleeveless jacket, and then pulled his shirt over his head. Marcus was too dazed to protest, but he did frown a little.

“To stop the bleeding,” Derrick said, determinedly looking between Marcus’ face and his own hands, and not anywhere else.

That was going to be a challenge for the next part though. _Why did the wound have to be there?_ he thought desperately.

First, he undid Marcus’ gun belt and the straps on his legs, tossing it to the side with his vest. Then, quick as he could, he started unbuttoning Marcus’ trousers. Marcus looked confused by that too. Making sure to focus on his own knuckles, Derrick picked up the shirt and stuffed it down inside the trousers to cover the wound, high up on the inside of Marcus’ leg. Then he withdrew his hand (fast as he could without touching anything _unfortunate_ ) and pressed down on the balled up T-shirt from the outside.

“ _Ow_ ,” Marcus growled.

Derrick shrugged. “It’s not gonna stop without pressure,” he said.

Hearing a noise behind them, he lowered his voice and said, “Here,” putting Marcus’ hand on the T-shirt. “Keep pressure on it.”

He straightened up, pulling his gun back out of its holster and pointing it down the corridor.

Glancing back down at Marcus, he saw that his hand had already slipped down a little.

“If you don’t want to die,” he said pointedly, “keep pressure on it.”

That was the one good thing about Marcus being a dick: it made it easier acting like the heartless, cold-blooded criminal that was Jace Corso.

Marcus looked up from under heavy eyelids, glaring slightly, but he did as he was told, and groaned again at the pain.

Focusing back on the threat, Derrick kept his gun levelled down the corridor as he started walking, slowly, keeping close to the wall. When he reached the corner, he stopped, cautiously peering around it. When a shot rang out he quickly ducked back. Crouching down lower, he popped out again to fire a couple of shots back, while getting a look at the positions of his targets. They were both hiding around the next bend, though one of them was bleeding; looked like his earlier shot had hit.

On his next attack, Derrick heard one of the men cry out. He leaned out again and let off a few more rounds, and this time one of the men went down. The other was still up and fighting, and Derrick ducked hastily back again to avoid another spray of bullets. But after a final exchange of fire, he went down too.

Derrick sighed in relief and turned back towards Marcus.

See, that was the other thing. He had no real problems with killing strangers in fights like that. How could it be harder to kill someone he actually had a reason to hate?

When he reached Marcus again, he saw that he had gone even more pale, but he was still pressing the T-shirt to his wound as instructed. The bleeding seemed to have slowed somewhat.

“Come on,” Derrick said, leaning down and putting Marcus’ arm around his neck. “We’d better find the others and get the hell off this ship.”

With some effort, Derrick straightened up, hauling Marcus up with him as he grunted in pain. He also grabbed Marcus’ vest and gun belt. They struggled along back the way they had come, while Derrick got in touch with the boss.

“Our little problems have been dealt with,” he said over the comm. “Have you got the score?”

“ _Yeah, we got it_ ,” Portia’s voice came back. “ _Transporting it back to the Marauder now_.”

“See you back there,” Derrick replied.

First things first, he thought, when they reached the Raza he had to get Marcus to the infirmary, so they could seal up his wound properly.

Practically dragging the larger man along was hard work, but eventually they made it to the airlock where the Marauder was docked. A noise from down the corridor told them Portia and Ryo were not far behind.

Derrick carried Marcus into the shuttle and dumped him down in a seat, to another groan. Griffin was at the console, waiting for them.

“That doesn’t look pretty,” he said of Marcus’ wound.

“It’s not,” Marcus ground out.

Derrick could see he was losing strength to keep pressure on his wound, so he crouched down beside him to take over. Marcus glared at him weakly; he just shrugged. He was still struggling to keep his gaze under control and he wanted to smack himself for it. He had some serious problems.

Behind them, Portia and Ryo shuffled in carrying a large crate between them, hopefully filled with lots of bars and stuff to sell. Once they had got it in and tied down, Portia stalked toward the console.

“Let’s go,” she said to Griffin.

No more was needed; Griffin pressed some buttons and flicked some switches and they were off back to the Raza. Derrick stayed crouched next to Marcus pressing on his leg, holding onto his seat with his other hand in case of any sudden turns. He tried not to think about exactly where his hand was.

When they had docked, Portia and Ryo unloaded the crate while Derrick got up and put his arm back around Marcus.

“Need any help?” Griffin asked.

“That’d be good,” said Derrick.

So the two of them lifted Marcus up and started carrying him to the infirmary. He was barely holding his own weight at this point, so it turned out to be a very good thing there were two of them; Derrick may not have managed by himself.

Once they reached the infirmary, they lay Marcus down on one of the beds. Then came the awkward bit. Derrick started undoing Marcus’ trousers again. But this time, they had to come down. Griffin helped him lift Marcus’ hips up to push the material underneath them, until they got them down to just above his knees. He was wearing dark grey boxers that clung to his hips and upper thighs. Derrick swore at himself mentally and forced his eyes away.

Returning his mind to the task, he started to peel away the T-shirt, which was stuck to Marcus’ skin with blood. Marcus moaned again weakly. The blood had mostly started to clot, but the wound still looked pretty nasty, a deep red gash surrounded by purple bruising.

“We’ll need to disinfect it,” Griffin said.

He rooted around in the medicine cabinet and pulled out a spray bottle of disinfectant.

“This’ll sting,” he warned Marcus, who groaned again in dismay.

Sure enough, when the spray touched his open wound, Marcus cried out, suddenly looking a lot more lively than he’d been in a while. Griff then used a wet cloth to wipe the skin clean. Marcus gritted his teeth to keep from moaning even more.

When Griff was finished, he growled, “I hate all of you.”

Before Griffin could carry on, Portia’s voice came over the comms.

“ _Griff? We need you in the vault_.”

He looked at Derrick, who said, “Go. I can finish this off.”

With a nod, Griffin headed out of the infirmary. Derrick started getting a pad of gauze and bandages ready.

“Bend your leg,” he instructed Marcus, who obliged slowly and reluctantly.

Derrick pressed the pad to the wound, then began to wrap the bandages around Marcus’ thigh to hold it in place. His fingers felt hot where they touched his bare skin, and he was still having to force his eyes to stay on his hands, for whatever messed up reason.

“Okay,” he said when he had taped the bandages in place. “You’re done.”

“Thanks,” Marcus grunted awkwardly. Derrick wasn’t sure he’d heard him say that before.

He started to try and pull up his trousers, before giving up when it hurt and just taking them off fully instead. Then he tried to get up, but even before his legs were over the side of the bed Derrick could see that was not a good idea.

“Whoa, buddy,” he said, putting a hand on Marcus’ chest to hold him back, “where d’you think you’re going?”

“To my quarters,” Marcus answered, like he was being an idiot.

“Don’t you think you’re a little weak for that right now?” asked Derrick curtly.

Marcus scowled at him. “I’m fine,” he said, pushing Derrick away and trying to get to his feet again, only to wobble back against the bed when he was hit by a wave of dizziness.

“Yeah, you look like you’re in perfect health,” Derrick said, not quite rolling his eyes.

“Well, help me, then,” Marcus snapped in annoyance. “Look, I don’t wanna stay here. I’m not gonna do any strenuous activities or anything. I just wanna lie in my own bed.”

After a few moments of Marcus staring at him, Derrick sighed.

“Fine,” he said.

He slipped his arm around Marcus’ back once more and pulled him to his feet, stuffing the man’s clothes under his other arm. Slowly, they made their way back to Marcus’ room. Derrick tried not to focus on the fact that Marcus was almost naked, and the feel of his bare skin on his arm and against his side…

Jesus, what was wrong with him?

When they reached Marcus’ quarters, Derrick hit the keypad to open the door. Once inside, he dropped Marcus on the bed with little attempt at delicacy. Marcus didn’t seem that bothered, and just sighed contentedly as he shifted up to the pillow. Derrick found himself looking at his body before he was able to get his gaze under control. When he looked back up at Marcus’ face, he seemed slightly smirky, like he might have noticed, and Derrick felt his face getting warm. He dumped Marcus’ bloody, torn clothes on the floor next to the bed, mainly as an excuse to look away.

“Well, if that’s all,” he said, quickly but acerbically, overplaying the annoyance at being treated like Marcus’ servant.

“Yep,” Marcus said casually.

With a roll of his eyes, Derrick left.

When he was back in his own quarters, he buried his face in his pillow.

Because that was the other reason he was having an existential crisis. For some reason, lately, he hadn’t just not been wanting to kill Marcus. He’d been wanting to take out his rage toward him in a very different way…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an aside, sorry if anyone’s disappointed that my first proper chaptered story isn’t technically a One/Three story – don’t worry, I have PLENTY of those too, believe me!
> 
> … Literally about 14 ideas at this point and counting, 3 of these in progress ;)


	2. Good Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew intend to stop off at a space station, where Marcus has plans for Derrick…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! 😃 Time for some space station fun ^_^  
> (Probably a bit too much fun in Derrick’s opinion…)
> 
> Also – all the tags for the fic are up now :)

They all met up for breakfast the next day. That included their stowaway, a bright-haired girl called Das who was great with technology. They had voted to keep her on board rather than kicking her off, with him, Griff and Ryo voting for and Portia and Marcus voting against. She seemed like a nice kid, which was why he had wanted her to stay. He thought she might be able to help the others learn more compassion. At the same time, though, he was worried that the opposite might play out instead, and he was subjecting a comparatively innocent girl to life on a ship with murderous criminals.

But she seemed happy enough. At the moment, she was telling them all a story about some electrical thing she had made one time. Derrick wasn’t sure what most of what she was saying meant, but it was nice to see her so animated.

The android was there as well, and she seemed the most engaged in Das’ story out of everyone. Their android was a funny one, too. He wasn’t sure exactly what had gone on, but Portia had got Das to do something to her, to make her more emotional. Now she was almost like a really socially inept human with a strange, robotic speech pattern.

Marcus came in then, a bit late due to the fact that he was limping. He had trousers on, thank god, but rather than his normal ones they were loose grey pyjama bottoms. On top, he was wearing a blue T-shirt. Derrick wasn’t sure why he was so concerned with what clothes Marcus was wearing.

He grabbed a portion of the eggs on toast the android had made them and sat down in the empty seat, which just happened to be next to Derrick. Portia, Griffin and Ryo were opposite them and Das was on the other side of Derrick. The android was at the head of the table.

“And then I put in the final transistor, hooked it all up to the power source and hit the switch, and it actually worked!” Das finished, beaming.

“That’s great, Das,” said the android.

“Thanks!” she said happily. She shovelled more egg on toast into her mouth.

“So, what’s the story on our haul from yesterday?” Derrick asked Portia now that she was done. “Anything good?”

“Yeah,” Portia said, “really good actually. There’s about four thousand bars, and probably close to another couple thousand in what we can sell.”

“Whoa,” said Griffin, while Marcus grinned greedily.

“Some of it will go towards refuelling and some minor repairs,” Portia went on, “but there should be a good amount left between us.”

“Music to my ears!” Marcus said, loudly and obnoxiously. “Curvy redhead here I come.”

Those words gave Derrick a weird sick feeling in his stomach. He tried not to show it.

With a disgusted look at him, Griff turned back to Portia and asked, “Is there a station nearby?”

She smiled slightly. “Less than a day away,” she said.

They all grinned. Space stations were the best part of all this, particularly when they had money to spend. They could do and buy anything they wanted. Derrick thought he might look for some more books. _Charlotte’s Web_ was great and all but he had read it cover-to-cover quite a few times at this point.

As they ate the rest of their food, they all talked about what they’d like to get. Das wasn’t hard to guess: circuit boards and wires and other electrical bits and pieces. Neither was Portia: weapons and ammo. Marcus seconded that, as well as restating his intention to buy himself some ‘company’ (Derrick shoved down that weird feeling again). Griffin mostly just wanted to get some good food, and Ryo had been thinking about looking for some throwing knives. When Derrick mentioned his book idea, Portia and Ryo exchanged bored looks, while Marcus scoffed audibly.

“ _Books?”_ he exclaimed, sounding horrified. “That’s it?! Man, you need to get a life, Corso!”

Derrick sighed in exasperation.

“You should come with me,” Marcus said, slapping a hand on his back. The touch sent tingles down his spine. “Get yourself something nice. It’ll do you a world of good.”

The idea turned Derrick’s stomach. “That’s not really my style,” he said shortly.

Marcus gave a heavy sigh. “This is what I mean! You’ve gotta learn to loosen up, man.”

Shaking his head, he took his hand back and went back to eating his breakfast.

When they had finished, they went down to the vault to divide out the money. After Portia put aside the money for fuel and repairs, they ended up with over 300 bars each.

Then they started going through the rest of the loot from yesterday. There were some nice weapons, as well as some gadgets that made Das’ eyes light up. Anything they didn’t particularly want that looked valuable, they gathered up to sell.

After that, they had nothing else to do but wait until they reached the space station. Most of them kept to themselves – they weren’t exactly the most sociable types. Derrick stayed in his room as well, starting _Charlotte’s Web_ from the beginning again for probably the hundredth time. He really needed some new books.

After an hour or two, there was a beep from his door. He put the book down and went to open it, and found Das.

“Hey,” she said cheerfully. “Wanna do something? I’m bored.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Derrick said, gesturing for her to come in.

He closed the door after her and she sat down cross-legged on his bed.

“Have anything in mind?” Derrick asked, sitting down next to her.

“Well,” she said, and brought out a pack of cards with a smile.

They passed a few hours like that, playing blackjack and go fish and poker – Das knew a lot of card games. She said she used to play a lot with her friends, though she didn’t elaborate more than that. Derrick wasn’t as familiar. He hadn’t had much time for things like that at home. Too much time preparing to take over the company, and then running the company, albeit briefly. The one friend he had had was also his assistant, and they were both so busy at work it was a rare occasion when they actually got to do something outside of it. He and Alec would go for drinks whenever they could, but it wasn’t enough to make much of a difference. Their lives were entirely centred around the company, and the company alone.

That was the good thing about being on the Raza. Yes, he had to pretend to be a criminal, and do criminal things, but he also got to be free, to do what he wanted, to have no responsibilities. And he got to have more moments like this, where he actually had fun. It was so different to his old life here and that was part of why he couldn’t bring himself to leave. Maybe that was selfish of him. Maybe it was okay to be selfish sometimes.

The only thing he did miss was Alec. That silly goofball always cheered him up, even after the most stressful of days at the office. He was a lot like Das, in that respect. The kid always had a way of keeping his spirits up, at least a little.

They had a lot of fun. They even played over lunch, while the others sat eating or watched. Griffin wanted to join in, so he played with them for a bit, until he headed off to go train.

When they’d exhausted the cards, they just sat and chatted for a while. Mostly they talked about the rest of the crew, and (innocuously, for the most part) made fun of them. When they got to Marcus, Das expressed her idea that his whole macho thing was just a defence, and really he was probably the most sensitive one on the ship. Derrick thought it sounded far-fetched, but at the same time… there were moments where he could see where she was coming from. Marcus certainly wanted everyone to _think_ he was tough as nails. But maybe that was a sign that there was a lot more going on that he would ever let show.

After a while, when Das started nodding off mid-conversation, Derrick ordered her back to her room to sleep, with promises that he was going to do the same. And as he started to drift off, he smiled. It wasn’t all bad on this ship.

Early the next morning, they arrived at the space station. As usual, they docked under a fake registration, to avoid getting thrown straight in prison. Then, with their pockets full of bars, they headed onto the station.

First things first, they found a shop where they could sell the goods from the crate, and got 1700 bars for them. Split between them, that was another 280 each, giving them all around 600 bars spending money.

They decided to split up – Portia wanted to go find guns, Ryo to hunt down some throwing knives, and Griffin was going with Das to look at electronics – but they agreed to meet up in the food court in a few hours’ time. This was kind of the accepted pattern now. They weren’t exactly a tight-knit group, but they were all each other had, and they stuck together.

That just left Derrick and Marcus. Derrick was about to go look for a bookshop when Marcus clapped an arm around him and turned him around.

“Oh no you don’t – you’re coming with me,” he said. He pulled Derrick with him as he started to walk, still limping a bit.

“What are you doing?” Derrick demanded.

“I told you, I’m gonna help you loosen up,” Marcus said, grinning.

Derrick felt an unpleasant swooping feeling in his gut. Did he really mean…?

“But I…” Derrick tried to pull away, but Marcus’ grip was tight. It didn’t help matters that, as usual, something about his touch was totally disarming, making Derrick feel tingly and weak.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get something to drink first,” said Marcus.

“I don’t… think…”

His protests were feeble, and Marcus knew it; he just laughed softly.

Soon, they were sitting in a bar, drinking shots of whisky. Derrick didn’t know why he was still here, why he hadn’t left to go look at books. The idea of buying someone’s ‘affection’ still seemed so wrong to him, and the idea of Marcus doing so was, for whatever reason, even worse. But something wouldn’t let him leave.

“Nervous?” Marcus asked him, with a mischievous smirk.

“You could say that…” Derrick said mutedly, taking another sip of whisky.

“Have you not done it before or something?” Marcus asked, half-mocking but also genuinely curious.

“Course I have!” said Derrick hotly. Marcus smirked more at his reaction. “But, well… I haven’t done… _this_ before…”

Marcus looked intrigued. “Never?”

“No.”

“Huh.”

Worried that Marcus was going to start doubting his unprincipled criminal facade, he said quickly, “It’s distasteful. I prefer to win the ladies over myself, not with money.”

Marcus tipped his head, picking up his glass and downing the rest of it. “Guess that’ll do the trick,” he said, raising a finger to the barman to order another glass.

“So you do this often, then?” Derrick said.

“Yeah, quite often…” Marcus looked at him suddenly, frowning, as if trying to work out whether there had been an insult in there. Derrick just smiled pleasantly and drank some whisky. Marcus narrowed his eyes a little, but carried on. “It’s just nice an’ quick an’ easy, you know? Work up a lot of tension in a line of work like ours. And you don’t have to worry about _complications_ or anything. It’s just business. Very fun business.”

Well, he was right about the tension. But a big part of that for Derrick was all his secrets weighing on him. Not to mention the war currently raging between every one of his emotions.

“But it’s not like I can’t just get a woman myself if I wanted to,” Marcus added, with a slight glare, realising belatedly what Derrick had been insinuating.

“Oh, no… I’m sure you can charm the ladies just fine,” Derrick said mildly.

Marcus continued glaring at him, while he continued drinking and tried to look nonchalant.

“Well, I think that’s enough drinks, don’t you?” Marcus said suddenly, downing the rest of his glass and slapping a hand on Derrick’s shoulder again. Derrick looked at him, his face dissolving into a look of horror, and Marcus grinned wickedly as he stood up. “Come on, drink up! We’ve got a date!”

Nervousness and apprehension flooding through him, Derrick drank the rest of his whisky in a few anxious gulps. As he did, he wondered yet again why the hell he was still here. Why he still wasn’t leaving. Then he slowly got to his feet. Marcus put an arm around him once more to pull him along, and make sure he couldn’t run off.

“I’m still not sure this is a good…” Derrick swallowed hard as Marcus steered him around a corner and into a dimly lit stairwell.

“It’ll be great!” Marcus assured him. “Trust me.”

“I’m not sure that’s ever wise,” muttered Derrick.

They started down the stairs, Marcus struggling a little.

“Should you even be doing this with your leg?” Derrick asked, a little desperately.

“I’m not gonna let that stop me!” Marcus grinned. “Besides, I don’t really need my leg for this. Worse case I can get the girl to go on top.”

Derrick gulped. He did not need to be thinking about that. Or picturing it.

Before he knew it, they were standing outside a set of black double doors at what must have been the very lowest point of the space station. Music could just about be heard from inside and a sign above the doors read ‘Sphinx’.

Seeing his mounting anxiety, Marcus patted him on the back with a smile. “You’ll be fine,” he said, his voice more sympathetic than Derrick had ever heard it. “Come on.”

This time, though, he didn’t just start walking and towing Derrick with him. He waited, arm around Derrick’s shoulders, until he was ready. Derrick wasn’t sure if that was ever going to happen, but after a few deep breaths he took the plunge.

“Okay,” he muttered, and started walking, Marcus following close behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to break this chapter here because there wasn’t another stopping point for ages! The next chapter is still a fair bit longer as it is ;)


	3. Behind Closed Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derrick has his first experience at an ‘adult club’… and it’s certainly an interesting one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the smut begins… That really didn’t take long did it xD
> 
> Chapter lengths are all over the place for this fic so I’ll apologise for that now… but at least this one is longer rather than shorter ^^;
> 
> Also, an interesting behind the scenes note for this chapter – I wrote a lot of it on my phone whilst on holiday in Croatia last summer (2019)! I had only just got back into writing after literal years and I was too hyped to stop, so I just carried on on the journeys and whenever we weren’t doing anything. No regrets ;D

Once they were through the double doors, the music was a fair bit louder. The space beyond was dark and misty, black walls with hot pink neon lighting in strips from floor to ceiling. The large room was bustling with people, men and women sitting at tables, chatting and laughing; a variety of attractive ladies in very small dresses roaming around waiting for someone to catch their eye.

Marcus led the way over to an empty booth against the left wall. Derrick had no idea what happened now, what the procedure was. Did they have to go up and order or something? Or was there table service? He almost burst out laughing at that thought.

Noticing the weird look on his face, Marcus chuckled. Derrick decided he should probably just ask, though his ignorance was a little embarrassing.

“What happens now?” he asked.

“Well, just have a look around,” Marcus told him, “see if there’s anyone you like.”

Derrick did as he was told. But he wasn’t really sure what he was looking for. They were all pretty, of course. Really pretty. How was he meant to figure out who he wanted to take to bed just from a look?

He was so out of his comfort zone.

Marcus, however, was not having the same issue. He had found just what he had been looking for: a curvy redhead. She, like all the others, was undeniably gorgeous, with long ginger hair that spiralled down her shoulders, and her somewhat short stature made the curves of her body even more apparent.

Marcus managed to catch her eye and smiled, and she smiled back at him. In a few moments, she starting making her way over.

“See,” Marcus said, grinning at Derrick. “Easy.”

When the redhead reached them, she gave Marcus, and Derrick, a disarming smile. “Hey boys,” she said. “Welcome to Sphinx. I’m Marli. Anything I can help you with?”

“I think there are lots of things you can help me with,” Marcus said, grinning at her.

“Budge up, then,” she said with a returning grin, and Marcus did, allowing her to sit down next to him. “So what’re your names?”

“Marcus,” he replied, eyes not leaving her face.

“Uh, I’m D– Jace,” Derrick said, almost blowing his cover in his nervousness. Luckily ‘D’s and ‘J’s were pretty similar sounds, so it didn’t look too weird.

Marli smiled sympathetically. “Bit nervous?” she asked.

Derrick nodded, feeling embarrassed and hoping his face wasn’t red.

“Don’t worry,” she said kindly. “Lots of guys are. But there’s nothing to worry about. Our girls will take care of you.”

While she spoke, she started stroking Marcus’ leg, and he put his arm around her back. Derrick cast another look around, but he was still at a loss for how he was meant to choose someone just from a look.

“There’s other options, if you prefer,” Marcus said, gesturing to a far section of the room that Derrick hadn’t previously noticed.

It was quite a bit smaller than the main part of the room, and this time it was primarily the ladies, as well as some men, that were sitting down, while attractive, fit-looking guys in vest tops and small shorts were walking around, waiting to be signalled.

“Oh, uh, that’s okay,” Derrick said quickly, hoping more than ever that he wasn’t blushing. Had Marcus actually noticed the way he was looking at him before then? Or was he just making assumptions based on how uncomfortable Derrick seemed at the idea of the women?

Marcus shrugged, looking like he was trying to suppress a smirk. “Thought I’d point it out. In case.”

Derrick had no idea what to say, and he had a nasty feeling he had to be a bit red by now.

“Is there something under here?” Marli asked Marcus, indicating where she was rubbing his upper thigh.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a bandage,” Marcus told her. “Had a bit of an incident a couple days ago.”

“Oh really?” Marli said sympathetically. “We’ll have to be careful of that.”

“I’ll be fine,” Marcus said with a smile, ever the tough guy.

“What was it? If you don’t mind me asking. Don’t worry – I like dangerous types,” said Marli, with a flirtatious smirk.

“Oh, uh –” Marcus gave half a glance in Derrick’s direction. “Just a job we were on. A couple of people weren’t so happy with us. They surprised us. One of ‘em got a shot off… Grazed past my… my leg.”

As he spoke, Marli continued her stroking, but moved her hand even higher up Marcus’ thigh, while her other hand started exploring his body. Derrick could tell it was getting to him as his speech became increasingly broken and distracted.

“Ouch,” said Marli when he finished, with a vicarious wince. “Mercenaries, then?”

Marcus and Derrick looked at each other nervously. Had he said too much?

Marli smiled. “Don’t worry. We get a lot of your type. We don’t care, as long as we get paid.”

“Right,” said Marcus.

She asked them more about themselves, just making small talk while continuing to stroke all over Marcus’ body. Derrick watched him become more and more docile, while he became more and more awkward.

Eventually, Marcus managed to reroute enough of his brain power to focus on Derrick again.

“Seen anyone you like yet?” he asked him.

Derrick shook his head.

“Come on, man, there’s gotta be someone you like the look of!” Marcus pressed. “Out of all these gorgeous ladies!”

Derrick spread his hands helplessly. The other man gave a small sigh.

“Alright – stay here,” he said.

He sat back and started adjusting something below his waist, and it took Derrick a moment to put things together. When he did, he knew his hopes of not blushing had definitely been dashed. Marli was smirking at Marcus, and he winked at her before squeezing past to get out.

When he stood up, Derrick couldn’t stop himself looking down below his waist, and despite Marcus’ efforts it was still possible to see a slight bulge. Derrick could feel the redness on his face now.

“Be right back, sweetheart,” he said to Marli.

He walked off. Derrick stared after him, not understanding what he was doing and having a very strong feeling that he wasn’t going to like it.

When Marcus returned, he wasn’t alone. With him was a really pretty young woman with light brown hair and freckles.

“Jace, this is Lucy,” said Marcus.

She smiled a little shyly at Derrick, who managed an awkward smile back. He was too stunned to really know what to say. Not least because Marcus had called him by him first name. His fake first name, of course – and he knew that they wouldn’t want to give their full names in here, them being wanted criminals and all –, but still. He didn’t think Marcus had ever called him that before. It was always Corso. Or, on some days, just ‘hey!’ The same way he would call Marcus ‘Boone’ if he was talking to or about him.

“I think you’ll like her,” Marcus said, with a suggestive smile.

He leant down to Marli and took her hand, pulling her to her feet.

“Well, I think we’ll leave you to it,” he said to Derrick, smirking at Marli.

Derrick stared at him, mouth slightly open. He was just going to bring a girl over and then leave Derrick with her?!

Seeing his floundering, Marcus smiled and patted him a little heavily on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”

Then he and Marli headed off.

Derrick turned back to Lucy. “Um, hi,” he said awkwardly.

“Hi,” she replied. She really was very pretty.

“Oh – sorry –” Derrick shifted up so she could sit down next to him.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. “So, your friend said you were a little nervous.”

“Yeah,” admitted Derrick. It was pretty embarrassing, that Marcus had told her, but it wasn’t like it wasn't true.

“That’s perfectly fine,” she said. “I do this every day and I still get nervous.”

“Really?” She nodded. “That does make me feel a bit better.”

He didn’t know how Marcus had done it, but he may actually have found a pretty good match for him. He was already feeling a little less anxious, just from knowing it wasn’t just him.

“So… what do you think?” Lucy asked. “Would you like to do anything? We don’t have to. It’s totally up to you.”

Derrick thought. While he still found the idea pretty weird, a part of him did want to try. And, let’s face it, seeing Marcus’ arousal and his concealed erection had put him in the mood. He didn’t understand what it was with him and Marcus at the moment, but there was no getting around the facts.

“I think… yeah,” he answered, with a slightly embarrassed smile. “Maybe not, you know, all the way, but… something.”

“Okay, great!” said Lucy. She gave him a cheeky smile. “I didn’t want to pressure you, but you are really cute.”

Derrick chuckled a little bashfully. “Thanks.”

It was weird, though, being complimented on a face that wasn’t his. He wondered if she would think his real face was as cute. In all honesty, though, he would’ve said Jace Corso was very good-looking himself, so he wasn’t offended or anything. It definitely wasn’t a bad face to have to adopt.

Not that he thought his real face was unattractive, of course. Pretty good-looking, too, in fact. But anyway.

Smiling, Lucy took his hand and started to lead him towards the back of the room, where other couples were coming in and out of a set of doors. Through the doors was a corridor lined with rooms. Derrick couldn’t help listening as they passed, but he couldn’t hear anything, not so much as a muffled moan. The rooms had to be soundproofed. At least that meant he wouldn’t have to worry about being overheard during this.

After a while of walking, Lucy stopped and opened one of the doors, gesturing him inside. The room was simple, pretty much just a bed and a couple of sofas, though both looked very comfortable. There wasn’t any pretence about what was going to go on in these rooms.

Lucy pressed something on the outside of the door which Derrick assumed was a do-not-disturb sign of some kind. Then she closed the door and turned back to Derrick, who was standing awkwardly by the bed.

“Ready then?” asked Lucy.

“I guess so,” said Derrick.

With a reassuring smile, Lucy held out a hand for his again, and they got onto the bed together. Then she put her hand behind his head and kissed him. Derrick felt a rush of confusing emotions, but he tried not to worry about them as he kissed her back. Her lips were soft and gentle.

Derrick’s mind kept drifting to Marcus. Wondering where he was up to. Was he already in the middle of full-on sex with Marli? Or were they still at the foreplay stage? He didn’t know why he wanted to know that. He tried to force his thoughts back to Lucy.

After a little while, she pulled back.

“So, what do you want to do?”

He felt a little embarrassed saying.

“Maybe just…” Not sure how to say it without sounding like an idiot, he just moved her hand towards his groin. When she looked at him in understanding, he gave her a sheepish smile. “Is that really boring?”

She laughed softly. “Not at all. Sometimes that’s all you need, right?”

She leaned in and kissed him again, this time more of just a long peck. Then she slid her hands under his T-shirt, lifting it so his stomach was visible.

“We’ll at least get more comfortable though, shall we?” she said seductively.

Derrick swallowed, then nodded. He let Lucy lift his T-shirt off over his head. Then he lay back so she could pull his trousers off – and she pulled his underwear off with them in one fell swoop, along with his shoes and socks. He was only about half up, but Lucy didn’t seem concerned. She looked him over appreciatively, while he tried not to look too self-conscious. His body was still his own, after all – there had been no reason to get that changed to mirror Jace Corso. He wasn’t even sure if he would’ve been able to find a picture of Corso’s body for the surgeons to copy. It was just luck that he had happened to be about the same height and build as him.

Lucy started to unlace her dress, which she then slipped off her shoulders like a jacket, revealing her slim, delicately curved body. She took off first her bra, then her underwear. Derrick felt his cock twitch a little as he looked at her (and was glad to see his body still knew how to function). Finally, she kicked her shoes off onto the floor.

Now naked, they lay back together and resumed kissing. Lucy ran her hands over his torso, and he stroked her back and hips. The feel of her hands running over his skin, and her skin under his, was a big help in getting his cock to harden, and after a few minutes he was, thankfully, fully up.

Just in time for Lucy to start moving her hands in that direction. One of them slid down his chest, lingered for a moment around his bellybutton, and then touched the thick shaft laying heavy on his abdomen. He felt it twitch again involuntarily. As they kept kissing, her hand curled around it, and she started stroking slowly up and down. It was already pretty sensitive, so the touch felt amazing.

But as he relaxed into the sensations, he started thinking helplessly of Marcus again. And this time it was worse. He was thinking what it would be like if Marcus was here. If he was the one touching his cock and kissing him right now.

_What the fuck?!_ He really needed to smack some sense into himself. If nothing else, it was incredibly rude to be thinking of someone else while Lucy was right here, kissing him and doing a very gratifying job of stroking his penis. He forced those thoughts away as hard as he could.

Lucy’s stroking speed gradually increased, until she changed fully to a pumping action. Her other hand was still caressing Derrick’s chest, and she had moved to kissing his neck. Derrick started to feel the pleasure building, his breath quickening and eyelids fluttering…

“Oh, come on, Jace!” said a voice, and Derrick sat bolt upright to see Marcus in the doorway, looking at him with exasperation. “All the things this lovely lady has to offer and you go for a _handjob?”_

Derrick’s face was definitely the reddest yet. In fact, it may well have transcended red and gone right to infra.

Marcus was shaking his head. “You really are hopeless.”

“It was all I wanted,” Derrick said, for some reason feeling the need to explain himself before anything else. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Just wanted to see how you were getting on,” Marcus said cheekily, “maybe lend a hand if you needed it. Which apparently you do.”

He raised his eyebrow a little as he looked at Derrick. A tad delayed, Derrick grabbed the nearest piece of clothing – his T-shirt – to cover himself. What the hell that was supposed to mean… Lend a hand?

“How did you even know what room we were in?” Derrick demanded.

“Marli told me what your usual room was,” Marcus said, with a nod to Lucy. “Sorry,” he added to her.

She was vaguely trying to cover the important bits with her hands, but she didn’t look upset thankfully, just a little sheepishly embarrassed, the way one might if their crush walked in on them while they were changing.

“No problem,” she said, with a small grin.

“It is for me!” Derrick said indignantly, staring at Marcus. “Why are you still here?!”

“Well, clearly you could do with some help,” Marcus said shamelessly.

“No, no I couldn’t!” Derrick barked.

Marcus rolled his eyes. “I’ve gotta wait for you anyway before we go, right?”

Derrick gaped at him. “And… what? You think I’m gonna just let you wait… here? While I… finish?”

Marcus shrugged. “There’s no rule against it.”

“Yes there is, I’m making one!”

Marcus gave an over-the-top sigh. “Do you never do anything fun? Fine, I’ll go wait out there. But you’d better not take ages.”

“I shouldn’t,” said Derrick quietly, thinking about how close he had been getting before Marcus had interrupted them. That plus the undeniable and ever insane fact that Marcus walking in on him had only made his erection throb harder.

Hearing, Marcus grinned a little as he walked out, closing the door behind him.

Derrick sighed loudly, throwing his T-shirt to the side again and collapsing back onto his back.

“Sorry about that,” he said to Lucy. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

“It’s okay,” she said, smiling. “It’s not like it’s exactly a secret, what I do.”

Derrick lay there for a moment, his cock throbbing with the urge to be touched again (he refused to think about _who_ it wanted to touch it), while he wondered what the hell was going on. Why did Marcus want to stay here and… what? Watch him orgasm? That wasn’t normal, was it? Or had he been intending to join in? Was that really what he’d meant by ‘lending a hand’…?

“So, want to pick up where we left off?” Lucy asked.

Derrick nodded quickly. “Yeah,” he said, “let’s do it.”

God, he couldn’t deny it. He wanted to cum now pretty badly. It had just been starting to feel so good when they’d been interrupted. And – damn him – Marcus had only made it feel better.

Lucy smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Sure you don’t want to do more?” she asked.

“Oh… no, that’s okay,” he replied. He still felt a bit weird about doing even this with her, let alone more. Also, after… _that_ whole thing, something made it feel even weirder. “Just this is good. Really good.”

Lucy nodded, looking pleased. “Okay then.”

She came closer and kissed him again as her hand relocated its target. And thankfully for Derrick, she went almost straight back to the fast pumping movement. Within a few minutes he was right back where he had been before. As his breathing increased, Lucy went back to kissing his neck and chest, leaving him to pant freely.

Once again, his mind was drifting to Marcus, and he couldn’t stop it anymore, or maybe he just didn’t want to. All he did was make sure he didn’t forget who was really here with him. He imagined Marcus’ big hand, bigger than Lucy’s, around his cock. The short hairs of his beard brushing his skin as he kissed his neck like Lucy was doing now. He still didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him, but he could deal with that later. This felt too good.

Soon he was gasping for air as his cock throbbed with pleasure and squirted his whitish fluid onto his stomach. Lucy kept pumping until it became too much, at which point she kissed Derrick instead. He moaned helplessly into her lips as the last of the pleasure spiralled through him, making all his problems momentarily meaningless.

As soon as it was gone, though, they were back. But he tried to put them aside and just enjoy this for a little bit longer.

When he sighed contentedly, Lucy smiled at him.

“How was that?” she asked.

“Amazing,” Derrick replied breathlessly, grinning. “I think I needed that. Thanks,” he added to her.

“No problem,” she said warmly. “Glad you enjoyed it.”

She leaned over to the table beside the bed and grabbed some tissues from the box there, handing them to him with a grin.

“Thanks,” he said again, starting to mop up the puddle on his stomach.

They lay there for a little bit longer, Derrick enjoying the afterglow of his orgasm. He really did feel a lot more relaxed, and he wanted to make the most of it while it lasted. Which, he was sure, would not be long.

Eventually, he forced himself to sit up.

“Guess I’d better get back,” he said.

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, your friend didn’t seem massively patient.”

Derrick snorted a laugh. “No, he’s not.”

They got dressed, and Lucy led him back into the main room.

“How much do I owe you?” Derrick asked.

“Sixty bars,” Lucy said. It seemed very cheap to Derrick, and he wasn’t sure whether that was because he’d just had a handjob, or because Lucy had given him a deal. Either way, he wasn’t complaining. He pulled 60 bars out and handed them to Lucy.

“Thanks again,” he said, smiling a little sheepishly.

“You’re welcome,” Lucy said, giving him a final peck on the cheek.

Derrick located Marcus across the room, in the same booth they’d been in before, lounging lazily in his seat and watching all the pretty ladies go by with an idle smile. He headed over. When Marcus saw him, he grinned.

“So?” he asked. “How was that? Glad I talked you into it?”

“I guess,” said Derrick. He did still feel weird about it, but he couldn’t deny that that orgasm had been fantastic.

“Come on, you know it was great,” said Marcus teasingly. “Still can’t believe you only went for a handy, though. What a waste. I should’ve stayed around to make sure you did it properly.”

Derrick looked at him in disbelief. “I never knew you were such a pervert.” He paused. “I probably should have guessed.”

Marcus just grinned at him.

“Come on – we’d better go find the others, get some food,” he said. “Dunno about you, but I’m pretty hungry after that.”

He got up, and Derrick followed suit. He couldn’t deny he was ready for some food too, even though all he’d done was lie down and get jerked off.

“Thanks, guys!” said a voice behind them as they headed to the door – turning, they saw Marli waving at them, Lucy smiling beside her.

They said their thanks in return and waved back. And then they opened the doors and headed back out into the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Marcus, you so pervy…


	4. Loudmouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus decides to tell everyone exactly what went down at Sphinx.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just more Marcus being Marcus, much to Derrick’s annoyance hehehe ;D

As they walked back up the stairs, Marcus limping even more than he had been before, Derrick found himself getting more and more curious. Morbidly so. Finally, he couldn’t resist anymore.

“So what did you and Marli do then?” he asked Marcus.

“More fun stuff than you,” he said, and Derrick glared at him. “Eh, she put it in her mouth for a bit, then I gave her a good pounding until I came.”

As Derrick helplessly pictured his words, he felt his stomach clench hotly. And the worst part was, he wasn’t even a hundred percent sure that what he was imagining was Marcus doing that with Marli. It was more like… like he was imagining it from her point of view.

“Told you, it could’ve been so much more fun,” Marcus said with a grin, almost as though he had heard what Derrick was thinking.

Derrick just shrugged. “Mine was still fun.”

“If you say so,” Marcus said.

As they started a new flight of stairs, Derrick noticed how hard Marcus’ hand appeared to be clenched on the banister. He couldn’t help smirking a little.

“You made your leg worse, didn’t you?” he asked.

“What? No, it’s fine,” Marcus said shortly.

Derrick huffed a laugh. “You’re limping even worse than before. You strained your leg with all that… rough pounding.”

Realising what he’d said, Derrick felt his cheeks reddening again, but he ignored it.

Marcus sighed in annoyance. “Fine. Maybe I did. But you know what? It was worth it. And there are definitely more embarrassing injuries to have.”

Derrick couldn’t help snickering a little. “I thought you were going to get her to go on top?”

Marcus gaped at him. “It felt fine at the time, okay?”

“Alright, fine,” Derrick said. But he still couldn’t help smiling as they carried on.

They reached the top of the stairs, and started heading back into the main part of the station. When they found the food court area, they quickly located Das and Portia, already eating at one table.

“Hey guys!” said Marcus cheerfully as they joined them. “How’s your time been?”

“Not bad,” said Portia. “Got my ammo and this beauty.”

She pulled out a brand new semi-automatic handgun and showed it to him.

“Oooh, she’s gorgeous,” said Marcus, taking the gun for a closer look.

“And I got some new thermistors and some non-polarised axial electrolytic capacitors!” said Das excitedly.

“That’s great,” said Derrick, no idea what she was talking about.

“What have you two been up to?” Portia asked.

“Getting ourselves some well-needed company,” Marcus said with a wicked grin. “Well, kind of,” he added, looking at Derrick.

And he proceeded to tell them everything that had happened in mortifying detail. Derrick stared at him with his mouth open, but he didn’t stop. He started to get kind of annoyed. First Marcus had dragged him down to that place, and now he was telling everyone about it without even asking if that was okay. The one good thing about it was that it was a perfect reminder of why he hated Marcus. Not only had he killed his wife, but he was a total asshole that enjoyed making Derrick’s and everyone else’s lives a nightmare. For a little while he had thought he was starting to see a nicer side of Marcus. One that wanted him to enjoy himself and reassured him when his worries started taking over. But in reality, he’d only wanted Derrick to come with him in order to embarrass him in front of the others afterwards.

When they went up to get food, he turned on Marcus.

“Why did you tell them everything?” he demanded.

“I like to brag,” Marcus said with a shrug. “What, you embarrassed?”

“No,” Derrick lied automatically, but at the speediness of his answer Marcus laughed.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, my friend,” he said, patting him on the shoulder once again. Had he always been this touchy? “It’s just a normal part of being human.”

“It’s a bit different when you’re paying for it,” Derrick said sourly.

“Not really,” said Marcus. “Just means you don’t have to waste time finding someone willing. You’re just paying for a service. What’s the big deal?”

“There’s just no… feeling,” Derrick said, almost instantly wishing he hadn’t.

Marcus looked at him strangely. “You really are a lot different than I would’ve thought, Corso,” he said.

Derrick silently cursed, but outwardly he just shrugged.

“Well, I’ve got a reputation to keep up,” he muttered.

“Hm,” said Marcus, looking away. Much quieter, so that Derrick almost missed it, he added, “I’m no stranger to that.”

They got their food and rejoined the others. Griffin had now returned and was talking to Portia. They sat down and started eating, and then Marcus started telling Griffin about Sphinx as well. Derrick was fuming. Even after he’d expressed his feelings at having all his recent exploits revealed to the others, Marcus still wouldn’t stop! But he couldn’t show his embarrassment in front of the others, so he couldn’t do anything. And when Ryo joined them as well, Marcus started over again. Apparently he wanted everyone to know every single detail of what he and Derrick had got up to in the club. Derrick buried himself in his food and tried not to listen.

When he was finally done, Derrick dared to look up. Portia and Ryo looked fairly uninterested, Griffin looked uncomfortable and was largely trying to absorb himself in his food as Derrick had been, and Das looked highly embarrassed, her cheeks bright pink.

“Well,” said Portia, “certainly sounds like you two had fun.”

“Sure did,” Marcus said with a cocky grin. “Well, I did, anyway – not so sure about sissy-pants here.”

He nudged Derrick, who, thankfully, had just finished his food. He stood up from the table.

“I’m gonna go find a bookshop,” he said, before walking quickly away. If he stayed there any longer he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself from punching Marcus.

He wandered around the station, lost in thought. He didn’t understand what was going on. By all accounts, Marcus was a giant asshole, and he had killed his wife. Most of the time, he hated his guts. And yet, sometimes, he didn’t. Sometimes, he kind of… liked spending time with him.

And sometimes, he wanted to rip all his clothes off and throw him down onto the nearest bed.

God, he was so messed up. He should just give up on this stupid, mindless revenge mission and go home before he did something he’d really regret.

He soon found a bookshop and headed in, grateful to have a chance to distract himself for a bit. That was the great thing about books – for a while, he didn’t have to worry about his problems. He could lose himself in stories and forget about his own life.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last very long.

“There you are!”

Derrick squeezed his eyes shut.

“Nerding out over books as usual, I see.”

“What do you want, Boone?”

Marcus shrugged. “Thought I might give reading a try, since you love it so much.”

Derrick raised an eyebrow. “You can read?”

Marcus scowled at him. “Yes,” he growled.

Derrick shook his head, turning back to the book he had been looking at. He was hoping if he ignored him, Marcus would leave. But he just stepped closer to the bookcase and started perusing the spines of the books. Derrick tried to go back to reading the start of the book he’d been interested in, but he was too distracted by Marcus to take in any of the words.

Eventually, he gave in, turning back to the other man with a glare.

“Can you go away?” he said shortly.

Marcus looked at him, an exaggerated hurt look on his face.

“Someone’s touchy!” he said, eyebrows raised. “What’s got your boxers in a bunch?”

Derrick huffed and said nothing. He just walked toward a different section of the shelves.

Marcus followed. “You pissed at me? What, for telling everyone what we did in Sphinx?”

Derrick scowled at the books in front of him, but kept his mouth shut. If Marcus didn’t realise that was exactly why he was pissed, he had nothing to say.

“I was just protecting your rep!” Marcus said.

That was too much for Derrick.

“ _What?”_ he cried, spinning around. “How the hell do you come to that conclusion?!”

“Yeah – ‘cause I was telling them you’ve been with a prostitute! That’s what us mercenary types _should_ do!”

“But you told them I only had a handjob ‘like a sissy’!” Derrick pointed out. “If you really wanted to _protect my rep_ you would’ve left that part out!”

Marcus tried to keep a straight face, but he only managed a few seconds before his grin burst through, and Derrick knew he was right.

“You’re such an asshole,” Derrick said furiously.

“I aim to please,” Marcus said, still grinning.

Once again, Derrick had a strong urge to hit him. It was almost painful trying to contain it. He tried walking away again but Marcus just came with him.

“You need to relax,” Marcus said. “It’s not that big a deal!”

“It is to me,” Derrick said, feeling like a pathetic child even as he said the words. “And I told you that, and you still went ahead and told everyone else!”

“Yeah, because it’s fun!”

That was it. Before he could even think about it, he spun round and punched Marcus in the face.

Marcus’ hand went to his cheek, and he glared at Derrick for a second before swinging back, his fist sending a shock of pain through Derrick’s skull as it connected.

When Derrick had recovered, he thought, _That’s it_.

He threw himself at Marcus, sending them both crashing to the floor, just missing a nearby bookstand. They struggled there for a moment, still throwing fists into each other, until Marcus, being stronger, managed to flip Derrick over onto his back and pin him down. Derrick squirmed, scowling, but inside he was on the verge of panicking. Having Marcus pressed against him like this was doing very strange things to him. And now that he was on top, his body pressing firmly down on Derrick in all the right places, he was dangerously close to getting an erection. The embarrassment of that, he knew, would actually be fatal.

So he thanked all the gods he’d ever heard of when the shop owner, an old lady with white hair in a bun, came over to them at that moment.

“Oi!” she shouted. “None of that in here! Take it outside!”

Marcus looked at her for a moment, before climbing off Derrick. Derrick scrambled to his feet himself and gave the shopkeeper an apologetic look.

“Sorry,” he said. “Won’t happen again.”

“Better not,” she said, giving them a warning look before heading back to her desk.

Derrick turned back to Marcus with a glare. “Just get out of here.”

For what had to be the millionth time, he tried to walk away, and like all the other times, Marcus just followed. Did he _want_ Derrick to fight him or something?

Marcus sighed.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he said, without much feeling. “I was just messing around! And I wanted you to see that it doesn’t matter! No one cares! Did you notice how little everyone reacted?”

Derrick just scowled at the shelves, jaw clenched.

“The only one that actually looked creeped out was the kid, and – she’s a kid! What do you expect?! And despite my efforts, no one laughed at you for just getting a handjob, did they! You take things too seriously, Corso!”

Derrick hated to admit it – really, really hated – but… maybe he had a point.

Apparently seeing this in his face, Marcus smiled. “You really need to loosen up,” he said, much softer.

With that, finally, he actually left. But now that he had, all Derrick was left with was confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Derrick: God this guy is such an asshole, I hate him so much, I wish he would just–  
> Marcus: *exists*  
> Derrick’s cock: Yes please 🤤  
> Derrick: The fuck–


	5. Private Viewing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus takes Derrick to another club, and this time, he’s not letting him chicken out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course we hadn’t seen the last of Marcus trying to get Derrick laid (for some reason…)

Over the next couple of weeks, Derrick found himself very unsure of how to act around Marcus. He had no idea where they stood. Marcus was being a little abnormal around him too, but in a more smirky, devious way that made Derrick nervous. They didn’t talk all that much, mostly because Derrick had no idea what to say, and Marcus seemed to be enjoying his cautious unease (far too much, in Derrick’s opinion).

They had a couple of jobs, which were pretty straightforward and went down without too many complications. Derrick was slightly awkward working with Marcus, but it didn’t get in his way. Marcus’ leg slowed him down a little at the start, but after a week it was mostly better. He wasn’t limping anymore, at any rate.

Soon enough, they came across another space station.

As they all ate dinner in the mess the evening before they were meant to arrive, Marcus had some news for Derrick.

“We’re going to another club,” he said, grinning as he swung an arm around Derrick’ shoulders.

Derrick nearly choked on his soup.

“What?” he spluttered.

“I just feel like we didn’t really get the full experience last time,” Marcus said innocently. “Well, specifically, you didn’t.”

“It was enough of an experience for me,” Derrick said, looking firmly at his bowl.

“Well, I know you could still do with a little action,” Marcus said, with an unsettlingly knowing grin.

Derrick tried to keep quiet, but he knew Marcus wasn’t going to drop it. He never did.

And sure enough, when they were alone on the way back their quarters, Marcus was still on it.

“Come on!” he said. “You know you want to try more than just a handjob! _I_ want you to try more than just a handjob. Just stop being boring and ruining the fun for both of us!”

Derrick sighed heavily. He tried not to ponder why the hell Marcus cared so much if he got more than a handjob. He didn’t even want to begin unpacking that one.

And when they got to the station, it was the same story. The others headed off to do their own thing while Marcus kept trying to persuade Derrick to come with him.

“Look, I just find it… weird,” he said.

“Why is it weird to be human and have human urges?” Marcus asked. “Come on. I swear, if you try it and you really don’t like it – which I find hard to imagine –, I’ll leave you alone. I just want you to try, man!”

Derrick was still at a loss as to why Marcus was so invested in this. But he threw up his hands in defeat.

“Fine,” he said reluctantly, wondering even as he said it what the hell he thought he was doing.

Marcus grinned victoriously. “Atta boy!”

Fifteen minutes later, they were in another club called Enigma, sat at a table while Marcus surveyed their options and Derrick awkwardly avoided looking at anyone. He still had absolutely no idea why he had agreed to this again. Apart from anything else, the whole concept was still pretty unsavoury to him. But whenever Marcus was involved he didn’t seem to be able to listen to his common sense.

“So, are you gonna pick someone this time or do you want me to choose for you again?” Marcus asked, with a disgustingly smug smile.

Derrick scowled at him. But he knew, taking a quick glance around, that he wasn’t going to be any better at choosing someone to have sex with than he had been before.

Thankfully, Marcus at least spared him having to say it by reading it on his face. His self-satisfied grin was possibly even worse, though.

“Back in a sec, Romeo,” he said, getting out of his seat and patting Derrick condescendingly on the shoulder before heading towards the ladies.

Derrick groaned, dropping his head onto his arms on the table. Why was he doing this to himself?

Shortly, he heard footsteps and lifted his head. Marcus was back, and with him, a young woman with shoulder-length golden-blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.

“Hey,” she said with a smile. “I’m Elle.”

Embarrassed as usual, Derrick managed a smile back and a ‘hi’.

She chuckled a little as they sat down.

“Cute already,” she said, grinning appreciatively at Marcus.

They made small talk for a little while. Elle was a bit of a different choice from Lucy. While still being sweet and reassuring, she was more on the confident side. But she still somehow managed to make him feel calmer. Derrick was once again baffled at how Marcus was able to find such well-fitting women for him.

Then Derrick realised something that made him frown.

“What about you?” he asked Marcus. “Aren’t you gonna… get someone?”

“Nah,” he said, smirking. “I’m coming with you two.”

Derrick’s mouth dropped open. “What?!”

Marcus looked way too pleased by Derrick’s shock.

“I told you last time, I want to make sure you do it properly,” he said.

“I didn’t think you’d literally…” Derrick swallowed hard. “No. No way.”

“Aww, come on,” Marcus said urgently. “I really want you to do this and I just can’t trust you not to chicken out.”

“Why?” Derrick finally asked, flabbergasted. “Why do you want me to do this so badly?”

Marcus looked stumped for a second. “I’m sick of you being so uptight, and I reckon getting laid oughta help get the knot out of your underpants,” he settled on.

Derrick just stared at him. His stupid body wanted him to say yes. The idea of Marcus watching him while he had sex was obscenely arousing. But how could he let himself do that? If he had any self-respect whatsoever, there was no way.

Thinking of something else, he suspiciously asked, “Would you just be watching, or actually… helping?”

Marcus shrugged. “Up to you two, I guess.”

Derrick turned desperately to Elle.

“Are you even okay with this?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m down,” she said with an eager smile. “Don’t you think it sounds pretty hot?”

Derrick just gaped at them both helplessly. He felt like he was doing a lot of that.

“It’s just… It’s too weird,” he said. “I can’t.”

“I think you can,” Elle said comfortingly. “You just need to get out of your head. And I think that’ll be a lot easier than it sounds when we get into it.”

Derrick couldn’t deny he wanted to. But what worried him was how much of that was due to the Marcus watching bit.

“Well… why don’t we go and see?” suggested Elle.

She got out from the table and stood up, holding out a hand to Derrick. He hesitated for a long moment, looking between both her face and Marcus’, before he finally took it.

Looking pleased, she pulled him over and kissed him, surprising Derrick who awkwardly started kissing back after a few seconds.

When they broke apart, Elle smiled at him and started leading him back to the private rooms. Marcus followed. God, this was weird.

In minutes, the three of them were in one of the bedrooms, with a do-not-disturb sign on the door. Derrick felt like he had never been this nervous.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” Marcus said, smirking as he went and sat on a sofa with a good view of the bed.

Derrick swallowed. Easy for him to say!

Elle smiled at him and pulled him over by the arm again, kissing him easily. Derrick tried his best to do what Marcus had said and forget about him, but it was virtually impossible.

Elle soon started undressing him, and Derrick tried to ignore his awkwardness. After all, Marcus had pretty much already seen him naked after last time.

When he was just in his boxers, Elle moved onto her own dress. Then she led him over to the bed to lie down. It was a four-poster, really extravagant-looking and just as comfortable. They lay on their sides and kissed, stroking each other’s bodies. Elle’s hands found his backside and squeezed his cheeks. Derrick kept trying not to think about Marcus almost certainly watching them, watching _him_ , but ultimately the thought just turned him on more and… Oh, screw it – it hardly made sense to _stop_ thinking about things that were turning him on in this situation. No matter how messed up it was.

He refused to look at him, though. That was going too far.

Soon enough, Elle made the final move and pulled Derrick’s boxers off. Derrick had his back to Marcus, so he now had a great view of his bare arse. So goddamn weird.

Elle reached over to the bedside table and brought back a small silver packet. With a grin, she ripped it open, pulling out the condom. Then she reached down to stroke his waiting cock, making him gasp quietly. He was already virtually fully up, and her touch soon supplied that last little bit. Then she slipped the condom over the head of his penis and rolled it down the length.

When she was done, Derrick took a bit of initiative and undid her bra, then slipped her underwear off. And then he could really stroke all of her skin. She looked at him with an eager smile and rolled onto her back, pulling him on top of her. He smiled just a little nervously back. It took all of his strength not to look over at Marcus.

“Ready?” he asked her.

“Very,” she said, grinning.

Grinning sheepishly back, he pushed himself up on his arms until he was hovering outside her entrance. And then he moved his hips forward and slid inside.

It was still insanely hard for Derrick to avoid looking at Marcus. He tried to keep himself focused on Elle, which really should not have been this hard when he had his cock five and a half inches deep inside her. Luckily, she wasn’t the type to make loads of overly exaggerated noises, as that would have just reinforced the cringiness of him having sex with someone for money. She stayed fairly quiet, just breathing heavily, with the occasional soft moan of pleasure, her eyes locked on his and fluttering closed when he thrust in. Her hands stroked his back and down to his butt, pressing his hips in deeper.

Eventually, as the pleasure built and Derrick lost himself a little in it, his eyes flicked over to Marcus. His gaze was trained on Derrick and Elle, and his hand was in his lap, rubbing his clearly hard cock through his trousers. It sent a pang of lust right to Derrick’s throbbing cock. When Marcus met Derrick’s eyes, he grinned suggestively, and undid his trousers, slipping his hand inside them. Derrick felt himself instantly go bright red and looked quickly away.

But he couldn’t stop himself speeding up a little. He was getting close, and feeling Marcus’ eyes on him as he watched and stroked himself was – god – really helping. He tried to focus back on Elle again, but when that proved fruitless, he allowed a small amount of his attention to remain with Marcus, and the movement he could see out of the corner of his eye as his hand moved inside his trousers. Elle’s face was flushed, her noises a little more frequent now. She smiled breathlessly as he locked eyes with her again, and he smiled back, changing to a slower, deeper movement for a few thrusts before returning to short, fast jabs. She gasped and moaned at the change, pulling his hips down into her again.

Derrick was getting really close now. His cock was throbbing, aching to finish. He picked up the pace even more, leaning further down over Elle as he rocked his hips faster and faster, making her moans louder as she clung to his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the increased movement from Marcus as he started jerking off in earnest.

In moments, he finished, gasping as he spilled himself inside Elle, the unbelievable pleasure making him forget everything else. His arms buckled a little but Elle didn’t complain when he dropped down and lay on her. She just wrapped her arms tighter around him, breathing hard in his ear.

When he had the brain power back, he slid out of Elle and rolled to the side to collapse on his back, still panting, his whole body tingling. Elle leant over him and gave him a short but intense kiss, before sitting up. Derrick distantly registered her leaning and reaching out an arm, and then the bed depressing with another person’s weight. He forced his eyes to focus and saw that Marcus was now sitting down by his feet; his trousers and underwear had come fully down at some point, and Elle was bent over between his legs, unequivocally with his cock in her mouth.

Derrick dazedly watched as Elle sucked Marcus off, his cock jumping with little sparks of pleasure at the sight, and the look of lust and bliss on Marcus’ face. Once he’d got his breath back, he sat up a little to watch properly. Marcus was leaning back into the bedpost for support, his face a little red as he looked down at Elle sucking him off. The way his gaze was so firmly fixed there, it kind of looked like he was having a similar problem to Derrick – wanting to look at the other man but forcing himself not to. Eventually, he did look over, and his smirk was unusually sheepish when he saw Derrick watching. Derrick was too fuzzy from the orgasm to question why the hell he was.

Soon, Marcus’ breathing got heavier, his face becoming more flushed the closer he got. Derrick watched as he came with a small groan, forehead scrunching up in pleasure, one hand on Elle’s head while the other was fisting in the sheets. It forced another spasm of pleasure from Derrick’s spent cock, his insides flooding with heat.

When Marcus was done, he swore softly, and gave a breathless laugh, slumping back against the bedpost again. Elle raised her head, licking her lips, and grinned at him. He grinned back. Derrick’s eyes had been uncontrollably drawn to his cock. Thick and hard and wet with semen and saliva.

Marcus looked over at him, and Derrick jerked his eyes up to his face. Marcus’ grin had shifted into a worryingly shrewd smirk.

“Not too weird, huh?” he said.

Derrick quirked an eyebrow. “It was pretty weird.”

Marcus rolled his eyes, and Elle laughed.

“Not bad, though, right?” she asked slightly poutily.

Derrick smiled, just a little awkwardly. “No… definitely not bad.”

Her expression softened into a smile. “Glad to hear it.”

They didn’t have long to enjoy the afterglow of their orgasms, though. After only a few minutes, Portia’s voice came over their comms.

“ _Boone? Corso? We gotta go_.”

Derrick and Marcus looked at each other.

“What happened?” Derrick asked in reply.

“ _Someone recognised Ryo. We need to get back to the ship, now_.”

“Shit,” said Marcus. Then, into the comm, “On our way.”

They turned to Elle.

“Sorry to screw and run, but we’ve gotta go,” Marcus said.

She nodded, smiling. “No worries. I had a great time.”

Derrick glanced at Marcus, who smirked back. “Us, too,” he said, with a faintly embarrassed smile.

She pulled him over for a quick but heated kiss, before they all stood and started getting dressed. Once they were ready to go, Marcus split the price with Derrick (which Derrick was surprised by but not complaining about), and then they headed quickly back to the lobby.

“Thanks,” Derrick said to Elle, with a sheepish smile.

“Anytime,” she said, giving him a final cheeky grin.

Then he and Marcus hurried off back to the Raza.

On the way, Marcus kept giving Derrick little side-glances while wearing a smug little grin, and Derrick was really not appreciating it.

“What?” he finally asked.

Marcus just grinned more. “I got you to fuck a girl for money and let me watch.”

Derrick rolled his eyes. “You’re so messed up.”

“You can’t even tell me it wasn’t awesome, ‘cause I was there,” Marcus went on unashamedly. Derrick hated how smug he was.

“Well, I’ve done it now,” said Derrick. “So that’s it.”

Marcus just somehow got even smugger. “We’ll see about that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _*Pervy Marcus intensifies*_


	6. Deep Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew have an unusual job – this time, they’re on a rescue mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s this? Plot?? :O
> 
> Jokes aside, I really like the next couple of chapters :) I’m normally awful at, you know, actual plot and sci-fi and fights and stuff, but I’m actually pretty proud of this little mini adventure ^_^ And, of course, there’s lots of good Derrick/Marcus bonding while they’re at it ;D

They stayed off the radar for a bit, to make sure no one unwelcome caught up with them. But after nearly two weeks, they decided it was safe.

Almost instantly, they had a new job. And it was something a bit different. This time, they were the good guys.

Well, almost.

It was a rescue mission. A highly influential businessman’s daughter had been kidnapped by a gang of anti-corporate rebels who were demanding that he dissolve his company if he wanted to see her again, and he and his family were offering big bucks in exchange for her safe, unconditional return. Calchek had filled them in and sent them the location of the daughter, a random uninhabited planet in the Tubori system.

Griffin brought the Marauder in a good distance out from their destination, to avoid them being detected. He wasn’t going to stay with the shuttle this time. They all readied their guns and headed out.

They trudged through the forest in silence for a while. Derrick knew they were trying to be sneaky here, but it made him tense. Especially with Marcus right next to him.

Things had been pretty weird since they’d got back on the Raza. Marcus had been… strangely nice to him, ever since the whole Enigma incident. In fact, he seemed to be going out of his way to be around Derrick, which made no sense whatsoever.

He had thought the strangest part was what happened right after they got back from Enigma. Derrick had fully expected Marcus, like last time, to immediately start bragging to everyone about how he had finally got Derrick to sleep with a prostitute – and, not only that, but got him to let him sit there and watch. He had prepared himself to get super pissed off as soon as he did. But… he hadn’t. Even when there were perfect opportunities, he didn’t bring it up. In fact, he didn’t bring it up at all. It only came out in the end when Portia asked at dinner out of curiosity. And even then, Marcus didn’t go into anywhere near as much detail as he could have. All he said was that he did manage to get Derrick to go all the way this time, and that it had been a lot of fun. Didn’t even mention the fact that he’d been there, too. Derrick had found himself staring mindlessly at Marcus, and when Marcus noticed, he just gave Derrick a small, secret smile.

So that had been weird enough. But it had just been the start of Marcus’ bizarrely nice behaviour. Derrick had been waiting for asshole Marcus to make his inevitable return, but so far, he hadn’t.

A few days ago, Marcus had even come by his room. Derrick had, unthinkingly, opened the door while in just his boxers and a T-shirt, and undoubtedly blushed when he saw Marcus there, smirking at him. And then realised belatedly that that was pretty redundant given the fact that Marcus had literally watched him have sex only days before.

He’d asked what he wanted, and Marcus – bafflingly – had said he wanted to hang out. After he’d stared at him in utter confusion for a while, Derrick had agreed, if only because he wanted to know what the hell this was about.

Turned out Marcus had brought a pack of cards with him that he’d borrowed from Das. So the two of them had spent a bewilderingly pleasant evening together playing some of the card games Das had taught Derrick.

Now he was even more confused about what the hell was going on between them.

Marcus tapped him on the arm and Derrick nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been so lost in thought he’d almost forgotten where they were and what they were doing. Confused, he looked at Marcus, who gestured ahead of them, to where Portia had stopped and fallen into a crouch, with the others following her lead. Derrick nodded, and he and Marcus ducked down and crept in behind them.

It was clear Portia had spotted something and, after scanning the gaps in the trees for a while, Derrick saw it, too. A building. Though it barely fell into that category. It was more of a shack.

Portia looked back at Griffin questioningly.

He shrugged. “It matches the destination Calchek gave us,” he said quietly.

Portia frowned. “Looks like this is going to be a lot easier than we thought, then.”

Turning back to the building, she started forward, gun at the ready, and the others followed. Slowly and silently, they approached the building, keeping clear of the windows. They gathered outside the door. Portia looked back at them and held up a hand to count them down. Three… two… one…

Springing to her feet, Portia smashed through the door and the five of them stormed in, aiming their guns all around the room in case anyone was hiding. But the room was empty. There wasn’t even much furniture besides a couple of tables and chairs.

They all looked around at each other in confusion. They was nothing here. Marcus tipped over a table, apparently just for the hell of it.

“Well,” he said, raising an eyebrow at them, “this was a bust.”

“It makes no sense,” Portia said, frowning. “This is the location they gave us. They should be here.”

At a loss, the five of them spread out and looked around the room, searching for anything they might have missed. But there really wasn’t much to search.

But then, Derrick noticed something. Scratches around one of the floorboards. It could’ve been nothing, but…

“What?” Portia asked, spotting him staring at the floor and coming over. “You found something?”

“Maybe,” Derrick said, crouching down as he studied the floorboards. There was definitely something different about this gap…

He managed to squeeze his fingers in and, with some pain, prised a corner of the board up. But when he did, it wasn’t just the one floorboard that lifted. A whole metre-square section did. He grinned triumphantly as he pulled the trapdoor free and tossed it to the side. In the space beneath was a ladder leading down into a dark tunnel.

“I had a hunch,” he said, feeling just a little cocky.

“Nice work, Corso,” Portia said, patting him on the back. “Griff, stay here in case we’re followed.”

He nodded. “On it.”

“Everyone else –” Portia slid her gun into her holster and stepped up to the ladder. “With me.”

They went one at a time, not sure how much weight the simple ladder would hold. The others also kept their guns pointed into the hole, just in case someone was waiting down there. But they all made it down without incident. Then Griffin replaced the trapdoor over the hole, leaving them in near-pitch darkness. Derrick was grateful Marcus and Portia had lights on their guns.

They set off down the tunnel. It started straight, but soon began to wind, curving left and right and down at sometimes very sharp angles. As they went deeper and deeper into the blackness, Derrick couldn’t deny he was more than a little scared. They had done this sort of thing a hundred times, of course, but never in this kind of darkness. He was becoming more and more sure that this was a trap, and that armed assailants were going to jump out at them when they went round one of the bends and shoot them all to pieces. He didn’t voice any of this, of course. He just kept walking, gun aimed down the tunnel ahead of them.

Then, out of nowhere, it forked. One path veered off to the right, the other sharply left and down.

Without even discussing it, they paired off, and Derrick and Marcus went together without thinking about it, taking the right path. They glanced at each other as they walked. Derrick wondered for the millionth time what the hell was with them.

They walked for a long time. As it had before, the silence started to gnaw at Derrick, except this time it was worse. There wasn’t even the noise of wind or grass beneath their feet. It was total, absolute silence. He really wished he and Marcus could talk about something, anything, just to fill it – but he knew that could be a really bad idea if people actually were waiting to ambush them. And that was quite a likely possibility.

Eventually, Marcus stopped, and Derrick instantly did the same, heart pounding.

“Did you hear something?” Marcus breathed.

“No,” Derrick whispered back.

But as soon as he said it, he did. A creaking noise, from somewhere below them. Luckily, it didn’t sound close. But still, Derrick could hear his heart in his ears like a drum.

Satisfied they were safe, for now, Marcus kept going, and Derrick quickly followed. But as their tunnel started to wind downwards, Derrick’s heart didn’t calm down. They were heading towards the noise. Towards the danger. Of course, that was the point of this whole exercise. But being in the dark this long, cut off from his senses, it was making it seem ten times more terrifying than usual.

And then, the path forked again. Derrick swallowed hard. But as Marcus turned to him, he put on a brave face.

“Guess we split up,” Marcus whispered.

Derrick nodded, even while his heart was pounding in his throat. He didn’t want to be alone down here.

But he couldn’t say that. He was supposed to be the fearless Jace Corso. So, without a word, he started to head down the right tunnel, while Marcus went down the left.

He’d only gone a few metres, though, when he heard Marcus cry out, followed immediately by a gunshot.

_Fuck!_

He ran back down his tunnel, gun ready, and then into Marcus’. Not far in, he found him, locked in a struggle with another man. The scene was lit up from below by Marcus’ gun, which was on the floor, but luckily so was the other guy’s. Before he’d even realised Derrick was there, Derrick shot Marcus’ attacker in the back.

The man yelled, then almost instantly slumped to the floor. Marcus turned around and sighed in relief.

“Thanks,” he said, voice a little rough.

“No problem,” Derrick replied, his own kind of weak.

“I guess they know we’re here, then,” Marcus said, leaning down to pick up his gun.

“Guess so.”

They looked at each other for a moment.

“Let’s just… stick together,” Marcus said.

Derrick internally sighed in relief. _Thank god he said it_.

“Yeah,” he said.

So they set off again down Marcus’ tunnel.

After not very long at all, they discovered what had been the source of that creaking noise. There was a door. Underground. In fact, there was a whole wooden building. It looked like someone had taken a garden shed and tried to teleport it through the planet, but it had got stuck halfway. Light was coming from inside.

Derrick and Marcus raised their eyebrows at each other, before creeping closer. If they were going to be holding the girl anywhere, surely this had to be the place.

Sure enough, when they were right outside the door, they could make out voices inside. And what sounded like sobbing.

Derrick leaned up to peer through the keyhole. He wanted to get some idea of what they were up against before they charged in. It wasn’t the best viewpoint, but he could make out at least six men surrounding the girl, who was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. There might have been more he couldn’t see.

“How many?” Marcus mouthed at him.

“Six,” Derrick mouthed back. “At least.”

Marcus grimaced. Derrick knew he was thinking the same thing: it was too risky.

But Derrick had an idea. The area they were in fed off into multiple different tunnels, including the one they’d come in through. And while there was enough light in here coming from around the door, the tunnels were still pitch black.

He gestured for Marcus to follow him, and led him into one of the tunnels to explain his idea.

“I like your thinking,” Marcus said, grinning.

He turned off his gun’s light, leaving them in full darkness. Then they crept back towards the underground shack. When they were close, but not too close, Marcus aimed his gun down the tunnel and fired a few shots into the ground in front of the shack. Then they darted back into the depths of the tunnel and lay down on their stomachs, guns poised. And waited.

Soon enough, they heard the quiet but just about audible sounds of footsteps on the hard earth and material swishing slightly as people moved.

Derrick and Marcus stayed on the ground. They couldn’t see a thing, so this was going to be a bit of a gamble. But when he reckoned they were close enough, Derrick nudged Marcus and they both fired blindly ahead.

Their targets immediately starting firing back but, not realising Derrick and Marcus were on the ground, they were aiming forwards, not down, and their shots just went clear over Derrick and Marcus’ heads. Whereas in moments, there were two cries of pain from ahead of them, and shortly afterwards the returning fire ceased. Derrick and Marcus grinned at each other, then remembered they couldn’t see anything, so Marcus found Derrick with his hand and slapped him heartily on the back instead.

“Nice work, man!” he said. “Two down. If we’re lucky, four to go.”

“Actually,” said a voice, “there’s five to go.”

_Shit_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof… cliffhanger time ^^; I blame Joe Mallozzi – you _know_ this is where an ad break would come in the show :P


	7. Under the Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue job continues, with only a few minor complications…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the underground adventure :D

As the gunfire started, Derrick and Marcus scrambled to their feet, firing wildly behind them as they ran down the tunnel in half crouches. There was no way to tell where any of their shots were going, or their attacker’s, and Derrick was terrified one of them was going to get hit.

But eventually, the tunnel swerved sharply to the right, almost bending entirely back on itself, and Marcus stopped right after the bend; when the other man turned the corner, Marcus elbowed him hard in the face. With a grunt, he went down, and Marcus grabbed his gun and threw it down the tunnel. Before the guy could recover, Marcus aimed his own gun and shot him.

With a sigh of relief, he called, “Corso?”

“Here,” Derrick said, finding Marcus with his hand to let him know where he was.

“Neither of us got hit, right?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t think so,” said Derrick, but as the words left his mouth, pain suddenly swelled in the middle-right side of his back, blossoming out to the rest of his body like a deadly flower. He fell to his knees before he could even try and stop it.

“Corso?” Marcus asked, alarm in his voice.

“Fuck,” Derrick said, with a weak laugh. “Got that one wrong, huh.”

As he slumped onto the ground, Derrick felt Marcus drop down next to him, feeling around with his hands until he figured out where he was. Derrick cried out when he accidentally touched his back.

“Shit, sorry,” Marcus said.

He felt around for his gun and turned the light back on, placing it so he could see Derrick. Derrick heard him swear again when he saw the wound.

“Guess it’s my turn,” Derrick muttered weakly. He was already getting dizzy from the pain.

“Yeah – and yours isn’t just a glancing shot; yours went in.” Marcus shook his head. “You really had to go and one-up me, didn’t you?”

Derrick laughed, then stopped when it hurt.

“Go on, then, take my shirt off,” he said. He was definitely becoming delirious.

Marcus looked at him for a moment, bemused, before he did as he said, carefully removing Derrick’s shirt and balling it up, then pressing it to the wound, just as Derrick had done to his leg a few weeks before.

Derrick barely kept from yelling at the pain, which he did by biting down on his lip and whimpering instead.

“Not so fun on that end, is it?” Marcus taunted. But his voice was light-hearted, not cruel. “Look… the bullet’s still in there but I don’t have anything to get it out with right now. Plus it could be stopping some of the bleeding.”

Derrick nodded. “Leave it. I’ll be fine until we get back.”

Marcus looked like he wasn’t so sure, but he nodded once.

When Derrick started trying to get up, Marcus stared at him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Uh… did you think I was gonna stay here? We’re kind of in the middle of a job, you know,” Derrick said condescendingly.

“Yeah – and if you go back out there like this it’ll be the last job you ever do,” Marcus said pointedly.

“It’s not that bad,” Derrick said, pushing himself back up onto his knees. Only a mildly crippling flash of pain through his back. Yeah, he could do this.

When he tried to progress to his feet, though, he suddenly found himself in Marcus’ arms.

“Corso, you can’t even stand,” Marcus growled. “Now who’s being the macho idiot?”

Derrick tried to push him away, glad it was too dark to see his red cheeks – but Marcus kept a tight grip on him. And even in a situation like this, the touch still did things to him. Goddamn it.

As he started shakily trying to walk, Marcus sighed angrily but walked with him, until his head started swimming and he had to stop.

“For fuck’s sake, Jace,” Marcus growled. “Fine. If you’re that desperate to fight –”

He leant Derrick up against the wall for a second to lean down and get their guns – then grabbed him again as he started to fall.

“I’m gonna take you down near the end of this tunnel, and you’re gonna lie on the floor like we did before and shoot anyone you see,” Marcus said, as he slowly started walking them both down the tunnel. “Got that? No trying to stand up or be a hero.”

Derrick glared at him weakly.

He couldn’t deny, though, while he didn’t want to sit the rest of the fight out while everyone else risked their lives, the idea of lying down was sounding pretty nice right now.

“Fine,” he agreed.

“Good,” Marcus said. “God, you’re hard work.”

Derrick huffed. “So were you.”

“If you recall, I didn’t try and carry on fighting when I was shot,” Marcus reminded him gruffly.

That kind of stumped Derrick.

Marcus looked very pleased with that.

He was still holding Derrick’s T-shirt to his wound with his left hand. His right was round Derrick’s upper back, looped under his arms. It was a kind of awkward position for them both. And Derrick’s body was enjoying it way too much. Especially given the pain still radiating through his body from his wound, and the pressure Marcus was putting on it.

Eventually, they approached the end of the tunnel, passing the bodies of the two other guys they’d shot. So there must have been three of them, and the third guy had taken cover when Derrick and Marcus started shooting, staying still so they assumed there were only two. Then, when they revealed their positions, he’d have the upper hand.

When they reached a point where they could see into the open space where all the tunnels met the wooden room, Marcus began lowering Derrick very gently to the ground. When he was lying on his front, Marcus handed him his gun.

“Remember – no getting up,” Marcus said firmly. “Right?”

Derrick nodded, and gave him a small, mocking salute. “Yes sir.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. Then, looking at Derrick’s wound, he crouched down and made Derrick lift himself up a little so he could wrap the T-shirt around his waist, over the wound, tightening it until Derrick winced. He understood, though. He wasn’t going to be able to press the T-shirt to his own back while firing a gun, and they needed to keep the pressure on.

Marcus’ eyes seemed to soften as he looked at him clenching his jaw in pain. Straightening up again, he said, “Try not to bleed out.”

Derrick gave him a small, only slightly sardonic smile. “I’ll try.”

With that, Marcus headed cautiously out of the tunnel.

Derrick couldn’t see a huge amount from his position. He could just about make out the door to the shack. Marcus crept up and looked through the keyhole. Then, to himself, he shook his head. Still a lot left, then.

Luckily, it appeared that someone up there was on their side, because Marcus looked up, and a grin split his face. That could only mean Ryo and Portia had made their way down. Marcus went out of his view, then, as he presumably went into a tunnel with them to explain the situation.

Only moments later, though, there was a roar of voices and gunshots started ringing out. Derrick’s eyes widened. But there was nothing he could do until they moved into his window. Even if he’d wanted to ignore Marcus’ orders and get up (and he kind of did, just to piss him off), he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay on his feet long enough to be of any use to anyone, except as a wall of meat to absorb some more bullets. It was kind of torturous. He still couldn’t really say they were his friends, but if nothing else they were his crew. He didn’t want them to die.

Finally, the battle moved closer to the door, and some of the enemy men entered his range. He started shooting, picking them off from a distance and feeling a bit like a sniper. His back was throbbing with a horrible ache, but he forced himself to stay focused.

It became harder when Marcus and the others got involved, too, but he still managed to be of some use in injuring their opponents, and not hitting any of them. Soon enough, everyone seemed to be down but the crew of the Raza. Even Griffin was there – Derrick guessed some reinforcements had come in from above and Griff had come down to warn them and help in the fight.

But it seemed like they were all gone now. All that was left was whoever was still in the wooden room. The crew gathered around the door and Portia counted them in again, and then they burst through. A few shots went off, but that was it. Then Derrick heard the girl sob in relief.

Moments later, Portia, Ryo, Griff and Marcus walked out of the room with the girl. She was only about ten. Derrick smiled brightly. This was actually a good thing. Yes, they’d done it for money… but they’d rescued a little girl and were returning her to her family. For once, they weren’t the bad guys.

Marcus came down the tunnel towards him, slipping his gun back in his holster.

“You holding up down there?”

Derrick nodded. “We did it.”

Marcus smirked. “Yeah. We rescued the damsel in distress. Now just one more to go and we’ll be two for two.”

Derrick frowned, until he realised what he meant; then he scowled. Marcus chuckled as he reached down and wrapped his arms around Derrick to help him to his feet. He felt even more shaky than before, and found himself clinging to Marcus in turn as they started towards the others. God, this was going to be embarrassing when he wasn’t in agony with a hole in his back.

“What is it with you two and getting shot?” Griff asked when they reached them, wearing a bit of a cheeky smile.

“We just like the attention,” answered Marcus.

The journey back to the surface was a blur of tunnels and darkness and dirt. What Derrick remembered most, embarrassingly, was Marcus. His strong arm around Derrick’s back, their bare skin touching, the warmth of his chest just millimetres away… Griffin was helping, too, but Derrick didn’t notice him so much.

The second thing that stayed with him the most was, of course, the pain. Lying down it hadn’t been too bad, but moving around, trekking up steep slopes… By the end, he was slipping in and out of consciousness, his entire body alight with the bright, radiating ache.

Derrick had no idea how long it took, or how he had even made it, but eventually, they reached the ship. He had a vague memory of Marcus hauling him up the ladder out of the tunnels with Griffin pushing from below. Then flashes of sunlight and tress. Then metal and low, fluorescent lighting. The others left with the girl, to go to the bridge and start flying them to the businessman’s home to return his daughter and get paid. Marcus and Griffin took Derrick to the infirmary. They also called the android to meet them there.

This was fairly blurry too. Derrick remembered being laid down on his front, then the T-shirt being untied from his waist. Marcus’ hands, which made Derrick tingle. And the others’ words.

“Scan complete. The bullet has not punctured any vital organs. He should be fine provided we patch up the wound before he loses too much more blood.”

“Ah, that’s great.”

The rattle of medical instruments.

“Wait, Boone, what are you doing?”

“The bullet’s still in there.”

“Shit. Okay.”

Rustling.

“I’ll do it. Give him something for the pain?”

“Right.”

Some kind of injection in his back; Derrick yelped.

“Sorry, man.”

They waited a moment until the painkiller set in. Derrick sighed in relief as the acute pain in his back started to dull.

It still hurt like hell when Marcus started rooting around inside him, though. He couldn’t help yelling. Marcus put his free hand firmly on his back to keep him from jerking away.

“Keep still, alright. I’ve gotta get this out.”

Derrick tried, but every fibre of his being wanted to get away. His hands were clenched hard around the bed on both sides and his teeth were buried in his lip.

Finally, Derrick heard a metal clatter as the bullet was dropped onto the table, and he sighed shakily. Marcus’ hand was still on his upper back; now that the pain was dying down again, he could feel it properly, and how warm it was.

“Sorry, buddy, but we’re not done yet.”

They disinfected the wound, which stung like a bitch. And then they had to staple it together. By the time they were finally done, Derrick’s lip was almost certainly bleeding from how hard he’d been biting it, and he was struggling to keep his eyes from watering.

“Okay, all done,” Marcus finally said after he’d finished wrapping the bandages.

“Thank god,” Derrick moaned.

Before he could even move to look up at any of them, he was out like a light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, Derrick’s turn to be shot :o Good thing Marcus was there to take care of him ^_^


End file.
